This is the opening paragraph of The Crimson Record, a report published by civil rights organization JULIAN detailing the presence of "modern-day lynching" (MDL) in present-day America and the persistent systemic failings of law enforcement in identifying them.

To many people, including myself until just a few weeks ago, lynching was thought to be virtually extinct in the United States, but it is alarmingly clear that is a false impression. That false impression mirrors the equally rampant impression that the existence of civil rights legislation means that systemic racial injustices no longer affect minorities, particularly African-Americans, and that black people should just "get over it". This sentiment is fascinatingly echoed by both the most outwardly racist people you can find as well as fiscally successful African-Americans.

Then, like clockwork, an extreme injustice presents itself in Gary, Indiana.

On August 11, Indiana was rocked by a massive storm that resulted devastating flooding, destruction of property, and sadly the loss of several lives. It also resulted in the loss of power for many individuals from those in the wealthier areas like Carmel, Broad Ripple, & Noblesville to those in the more downtrodden northwest region and its cities, none more affected than Gary, a city of which black people account for over 75% of the population. Over 350,000 in the northwest region lost power in their homes, schools, and grocery stores for not just one day...

...or 2

...or 3

...or 4

or ...5...6...7...8...9...10...

11...12...13...14...

15...16...

17...

...but 18 days.

Given the catastrophic effects of such a prolonged outage such as the loss of lives, oxygen deprivation for the elderly, alongside hundreds of thousands of dollars of food spoilage, republican Governor Mike Braun, who was radio-silent on the issue until 2 weeks in, pushed consumer-advocate organizations for an investigation into NIPSCO, the power provider for Gary, regarding potential infrastructural design failures or possible lack of spending of funds that were allocated for reinforcing Gary's power grid.

Does this situation sound familiar to you? Largely African-American populated area is affected by an institution's lackadaisical care for basic infrastructure?

Maybe it reminds you of redlining disproportionately pushing black Americans into housing with lead paint & asbestos in the 60s-70s.

Maybe it reminds you that black peoples' pulmonary testing were historically interpreted according to race-adjusted medical standards tracing back to slave-era theories proclaiming black people had "weaker lungs", and that the American Thoracic Society first formally recommended race-neutral testing in 2023.

Or maybe it reminds you of the FDA advising new recommendations for obtaining patient oxygen levels after several studies found inaccuracies in pulse oximeters across darker skin colors...in January 2025...

...and if I may remind you, that was just yesterday.

My new song, "Live Oak Tree" about this very topic releases this Thursday, September 3, 2026. You can pre-save it using this link.​

If you'd like to donate towards recovery efforts in Gary, IN, you can find non-profits using this link.

Until next time, stay safe.

-Stephen (Suti~Tooti)